PORT TOWNSEND — Three East Jefferson County girls will go to a weeklong science and math camp this summer through the Port Townsend branch of the American Association of University Woman.
At Tech Trek at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma in July, incoming eighth-grade girls will learn about science, technology, engineering and math — career areas in which women are typically underrepresented, according to Carol Colley, spokeswoman for the Port Townsend AAUW.
Teachers at public schools have nominated girls who exhibit a particular interest in science and math.
Meeting Saturday
The applicants will be interviewed. Winners selected for camp scholarships will be announced at the Port Townsend AAUW meeting Saturday.
Sixty incoming eighth-grade girls from throughout the state will be chosen for the camp sponsored by AAUW-Washington.
Research sponsored by AAUW shows that middle school girls who lack encouragement, challenge and role models in STEM subjects may not continue to pursue those areas in high school and college, Colley said.
As a remedy, Tech Trek was started in 1998 at Stanford University to serve 150 California middle school girls. The program has grown and now serves 800 girls a year.
Donations sought
The upcoming camp will be the second sponsored by the statewide AAUW, which is seeking tax-deductible donations to cover local scholarships.
A $10 donation pays for workshop/mini-lab supplies for one camper, $50 pays for all classroom materials for one camper, $100 pays for field trip transportation for two campers, and $1,000 would pay for a full scholarship for one local girl.
To donate, write a check to University Women’s Foundation, or UWF, designating Tech Trek on the memo line and mail to AAUW/UWF, P.O. Box 644, Port Townsend, WA 98368.
UWF is the Port Townsend branch’s 501(c)(3) tax-deductible public charity. A tax receipt will be mailed to all donors.
For more information, phone Jane Macnab Dow at 360-379-9325 or Elizabeth Crouch at 360-390-8645.
